Monthly Archives: January 2018

This is the second in our series of podcasts recorded LIVE at breweries along the I-55 corridor, within 4 miles of an exit. This time we head to Willow Springs and visit Imperial Oak Brewing. Our hosts for the evening are brewer / co-founders, Brett Semenske and Grant Hamilton, who bring with them their Flagship, Showcase, and Inspiration beers for us to taste and talk about, and we hear stories of how the brewery came to be, how it has developed, and what’s in store for the future. And finally, bringing in the ‘chain’ beer ready for our next Corridor 55 podcast, brewers Jordan Isenberg, and Justin Rigoni, from Blue Nose Brewery in Hodgkins. Usual co-host Chuck Fort is busy at a UKG meeting, so joining me as guest co-hosts are Corridor 55 producer and craft beer promoter, Kevin Herbst, and the ‘Yankee’, Mike ‘Lingo’ Lingafelter.

As we talk about the origins of the brewery, the futures, what their favorite TV shows are, and home brewing versus commercial brewing, we taste and review their beer selections.

Flagship Beer – a brew that represents a mainstay, and something you should always try when you visit
Udderly Black, Milk Stout, 5.4% ABVShowcase Beer – a brew that the guests want to highlight as something specialCognac Barrel Aged Double Dee’s, Imperial Porter, 10% ABVInspiration Beer – a brew that has some type of inspirational aspect or personal sentiment to our guests
Dave’s Pale Ale, American Pale Ale homebrew, a beer that won mant awards and inspired Imperial to have it on tap from time to time.Chain Beer – the brew that links our focus brewery to the next podcast release
Blue Nose Brewery, Lenna, Kettle Sour, 4.2% ABV

Recording this show on National Beer Can Appreciation Day, we have a crop of brews that USBrit brought back from Colorado and his recent holiday trip out there. It’s a consumers show this time round as co-host Chuck couldn’t make it, and we have friend of the show, Tom Ryan, and the return of the Cellarmaster and original Yankee, Lingo in the pub to try a few of these. It’s a bumper show, and by brew #5, we get a little punchy!

To start and make sure we have more cans than bombers on this ‘auspicious’ day, we have 3 cans. The first is from established Left Hand Brewing from Longmont, then from Wibby Brewing, one of the newer places in Longmont, and finally Denver’s Crooked Stave supplies the 3rd can.

Following the closing of our local tavern, ex-tavern owner John Karwoski, long-time friend of the show and now retired, is making up for all those long hours behind the bar, and visiting many of our local area breweries as he travels around Illinois and the Midwest area. Happily, we are the benefactors of those travel as he returns with beer samples for us to try.

In this episode, we are tasting offerings from 3 breweries that are part of SW Michigan’s Makers Trail, and 2 offerings from each, making out SW six-pack. Check out the Makers Trail app available for both iPhone and Android.

First up is North Pier Brewing, located in Benton Harbor, and we have 2 brews with mythical connections, one of which we question as to the origin …The Conjurer, Belgian Golden Strong, 8.7% ABVOld Schuck, London Porter, 5.0% ABV

Next, we stay in Benton Harbor and head to The Livery, in the center of the downtown art area, and we have a couple of ‘prowlers’ containing a BBA brew, and we learn what a ‘maillot’ is, but question if it really is a biere de garde …Bourbon Barrel-aged Wee Heavy, Scotch Ale, 12% ABVMaillot Rouge, Sour/Wild Biere de Garde, 8.5% ABV

Our final stop is in St. Joseph, and the Silver Harbor Brewing Co. ,ad we contrast another sour ale, this time aged in red wine barrels, and we finish up with another big beer, barrel-aged …Wot ‘n’ Tarnation, Sour Ale w/ raspberries & blueberries aged in a red wine barrel, 5% ABVBarrel-aged Bride Order Male, Russian Imperial Stout, 11.8% ABV

We’re back after our end of year break, and we’re excited to present our first podcast in our Corridor 55 Special Release series and we feature and record it LIVE from Pollyanna Brewing in Lemont, IL.

In this series of podcasts we are going to visit the 9 breweries in the stretch of I-55 between Plainfield and Lyons, all no more than 4 miles from an exit. We have asked the guest(s) to select at least 3 brews they want to feature and have us taste, and we get the stories behind the brews and the brewery.

Our guests for this show are VP of Operations and co-founder of Pollyanna, Ed Malnar, and brewer Chris Koentz. And joining us for our final brew to link, or ‘chain’, the next Corridor 55 show, is co-founder and brewer Grant Hamilton from Imperial Oak. This is an evening of conversation about beer, the brewery, and good old pub chat!

L-R, Ed, Chris, Phil, Grant, Chuck

Chalkboarded!

The selected beers are as follows:

Flagship Beer – a brew that represents a mainstay, and something you should always try when you visitThe Full Lemonty, Golden Ale, 5% ABV, 20 IBU